The folk revival: where to catch it live

Ireland has always had a strong tradition of folk music, but in England, Scotland and Wales traditional songs are being played again and, even - whisper it - spawning a cool new scene. Rob Penn reveals the best places to join the musical revival and watch the new breed of folk artists perform

Folk trance ... a stomping night can be had at Sandy Bells bar in Edinburgh. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod

The scene: a pub with aged wooden panelling, stained-glass windows depicting stories of rural life, a sage barman in a tie and tables stacked with pints of Guinness and golden drams. Tucked into a dimly lit corner at the back, huddled in a circle, are a dozen musicians playing flutes, bodhrans, banjos and fiddles. The music - a rollicking jig that could wake the dead - mixes with dozens of raucous conversations. The pub is humming or, as they say in Ireland, the craic is mighty.

This pub is not in Ireland, though. It is the Lismore, a tavern in the West End of Glasgow on a Thursday night and the musicians in the corner are Scottish. But it could be one of many pubs across Scotland. In fact, this iconic scene of music and the craic could also be in Newcastle or an Oxfordshire village, on the Gower Peninsula or in a small Cornish port.

Across the length and breadth of Britain, folk or traditional music is thriving again. The excellent BBC4 series Folk Britannia, to be broadcast throughout February, the high profile of Kate Rusby, the sexy folk singer from Barnsley, and the BBC Folk Awards tomorrow all suggest as much. However, it is the evidence at the grassroots of the folk scene that is most compelling. The rise of acoustic music has spawned a proliferation of sessions and small gigs in pubs and clubs.

Where and how you hear folk music depends largely on which part of Britain you are in. Scotland's musical tradition is close to Ireland's. In Glasgow, Edinburgh and across the Highlands, especially in the summer, there are numerous authentic pub sessions - basically a gathering of musicians, often unknown to each other, to play acoustic music over a pint. Fuelled by drink and bonhomie, they play and exchange tunes into the night.

Further south - from the Scottish Borders down to Hertfordshire and across to Pembrokeshire, sessions do take place, but you are just as likely to hear a gig in a pub, organised by the local folk club. These events are no longer the sole preserve of bearded middle-aged men in chunky-knit jumpers holding tape recorders. Folk has a broader appeal and it is attracting a younger audience than it has for 30 years.

Music academics argue that it is the process of continual reinvention that has saved folk music from the great cultural dustbin. Maybe. Perhaps Louis Armstrong was closer to the truth when he said: 'All music is folk music. I ain't never heard no horse sing.'

What follows is a guide to catching the best of the folk scene across England, Scotland and Wales this year:

England

From a low point in the late-Seventies, English folk music has made a long, hard journey back into the light. Among the candle-bearers have been Martin Carthy and his daughter, Eliza, Billy Bragg and Kate Rusby. 'Kate has brought a new audience to traditional music,' says Chris Pentney of the folk development agency for the north of England, Folkworks. 'And it is up to us to make the most of that. In the north east, there are now so many opportunities for people to get involved: teaching programmes in schools, there's a degree course in folk music at Newcastle University, very good concerts going on all the time and great festivals in the summer. Perhaps most exciting is the groundswell of young people who are committed to the traditions of specifically English music, while making it their own.'

Where to hear it

Newcastle upon Tyne: The Cumberland Arms (Ouseburn, Byker, Tyne & Wear/0191 265 6151; www.thecumberlandarms.co.uk) has been running a Wednesday evening trad session for more than 20 years. Musicians from both sides of the border gather here.

Hitchin, Herts: Hitchin Folk Club (at the Sun Hotel, Sun Street/01462 812391; www.hitchinfolkclub.idnet.net). A line-up of high quality traditional gigs every Sunday evening, throughout the year.

Wentworth, South Yorkshire: Rockingham Arms (8 Main Street/01709 585977; www.therock.org.uk) has a concert every Friday night. All the main players on the folk scene have appeared here over the past 30 years.

Don't miss:

Kate Rusby (www.katerusby.com) - the 'folk babe' who grew up playing in the family ceilidh band is now an international star.

Eliza Carthy - daughter of folk legends Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, the Yorkshire-born vocalist and fiddler has made a name for herself with her contemporary spin on traditional classics.

Richard Thompson (www.richardthompson-music.com) is the songwriters' songwriter and a founding member of the groundbreaking UK folk-rock band Fairport Convention. He has been a godfather of the English folk scene for a generation.

Stephen Fretwell (www.stephenfretwell.com) - elegiac singer, composer of beautiful songs and the best thing to come out of Scunthorpe since Kevin Keegan. You can still catch him playing in local pubs.

Across much of Scotland, but particularly in the Highlands, music is a cornerstone of cultural life. In the late Seventies, however, the tradition of musicianship and old songs being passed down through families was eroding. It was the foresight of an enterprising priest on the Isle of Barra in the Western Isles that stopped the rot. In 1981, he organised the first 'feis' (Gaelic for 'festival' or 'feast'), a community-run, week-long gathering of musicians to teach children. Today, there are 40 'feisean' teaching thousands of kids each year, in what has become a nationwide movement. The National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music in Plockton, Skye and Lochalsh, a growing number of professional musicians and the extensive programme of sessions sponsored by McEwans brewery have all followed.

Various regions of Scotland are associated with specialised musical traditions: in the Western Isles, piping, Gaelic singing and step-dancing are still strong; Skye and Lochalsh has a reputation for highly skilled instrumentalists and Lerwick in the Shetland Isles is known for its distinctive fiddle style. In summer, there is a wealth of music in these places. But really, between May and September, you can make your own ceilidh trail almost any which way across Scotland and hear fantastic music.

Where to hear it

Glasgow: The Lismore (206 Dumbarton Road/0141 576 0103) has a traditional music session every night of the week, from around 9pm. This warm and friendly, old school pub wears its politics confidently - the urinals are all named after Highland landlords infamous during the Clearances. The whisky selection is mind-boggling.

Edinburgh: Sandy Bells (25 Forrest Road/0131 225 1156) is an institution: there has been music here since 1943 and for the past 15 years there have been organised sessions seven nights a week. Dark wood panelling, tiled floor, poems on the walls and good Guinness.

mcewanssessions has a full list of all the sessions sponsored by the McEwans brewery, year round, throughout Scotland.

www.ceolas.co.ukis a unique summer school focusing on Gaelic language and arts as well as music in the Western Isles.

Wales

The Welsh for ceilidh is the delightful-sounding 'twmpath'. The verve and quality of Welsh music was smothered for several generations by the blanket of Methodism, but twmpaths are making a return. 'It is a revival of sorts,' says Danny Kilbride, chair of Trac, Wales's folk development agency. 'Devolution has prompted people in the arts to find ways of defining ourselves. There's not yet a scene as such in any town or region but the level of critical debate has gone up and musicianship is improving.'

Part of the task is to integrate two languages, two geographies and the arcane and beautiful instruments of Welsh folk, such as the triple harp, into a coherent and contemporary sound.

Where to hear it

Cardiff: Y Mochyn Du (Sophia Gardens/ 029 2037 1599) has a well established session every Monday night. The number of musicians varies, but the music is always good.

Don't miss

Whether performing as a solo artist or with her band, Fernhill, Julie Murphy's haunting vocals and creative reinterpretations of traditional Welsh music have earned her a loyal following. (www.juliemurphymusic.com).

Crasdant (www.crasdant.com) mix traditional Welsh harp, the esoteric triple harp, flutes, fiddle, accordion, guitar and a Welsh reed instrument called the pibgorn. Four gifted musicians are joined by a flamboyant champion clogger.